I'm glad to see all of you here this evening. I'm very glad to see Harold back with us, and Nancy, and Brother Dick Winters, and Cora. These men have had some physical ailments, and I'm glad to see them and their spouses this evening. Remember Brother Winters, he'll be going up to Cleveland Clinic the 1st of December, right? And we pray for him.

Let's go back to the passage of scripture that Brother Joe read to us. And I'm going to repeat two verses that he read because I'll ultimately focus on these two. 1 John 2, verses 1 and 2, my little children, John writes as an older man, the spiritual father of many of these who would read this epistle. He says, My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

My subject tonight is the sinner's advocate. The sinner's advocate. Now, the first chapter, John has directed our attention to our greatest problem, which is sin. That's our problem. And he first of all shows us how God dealt with sin. He says in the seventh verse, but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And this is how God dealt with the sins of his people, the sins of his elect. the sins of all those that were given to Him and trusted to Him in the covenant of grace. This is how the Savior dealt with them. This is how God dealt with our sins.

The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sins. How did God deal with our sins? Well, he dealt with them in the sin atoning, sin cleansing, and sin removing, bloody death, the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Never imagine that the mercy of God and the grace of God in any way compromise or lessen the severity of God's justice against sin. God is never lenient towards sin. He must strike out in anger and in vengeance upon sin. And when our Lord Jesus took our sins upon Himself, upon the cross of Calvary, the Son of God became the target for the wrath of God and the anger of God.

You see, God may pardon sin. He may save a sinner. He may justify the ungodly, but never in a manner that is in any way contrary to his law and to his justice. As you know, Romans 6.23 says, for the wages of sin is death. It always is. The wages of sins were paid to our Savior when He took our sins upon Himself. That's why He had to die. He died so that His people would never die. He died in our stead. He died in our place. In Ephesians 1, verse 7, Paul says this, speaking of the Savior, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace.

When the Bible speaks of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's talking about his sacrifice for sin, his death. The life of the flesh is in the blood. And Christ shed his blood to his death to save us from our sins. So that's how God dealt with sin. He always deals with it in a just way, in a righteous way. in a way that is honoring to his own holy character.

But notice how men deal with sin. And it presents three ways or three attitudes that people have towards sin. Verse 8 of chapter 1, here are some people who deny the existence of the sinful nature. If we say that we have no sin, in fact, you'd do well to go down through here and note the number of times the word if is mentioned. He says, if we say that we have no sin, while we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, here's our problem. We're born wrong. We're born in sin. David said, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. It's as if he had said there in Psalm 51, it isn't just that I have sinned in this, the committing of adultery with Bathsheba, and then the cover up of having Uriah sent to the front to be killed for certain in the war. But he's saying, I am at my very core being a sinful man. I am by nature a sinner. The fountain of my life is polluted, therefore all the streams that come forth from me are polluted as well.

You know there when Israel had been led across the Red Sea and they sang the song of Moses and they were rejoicing. And they went further and they came to the bitter waters of Marah. And I was thinking about those bitter waters of that lake or pond or whatever it was. You know, every creek, every little stream that went forth from Marah, they were bitter too. There was no good-tasting water that went forth from that lake. That's the way it is with our hearts. That's the way it is with the fountain within us. We're polluted. We're bitter. We're sinful. No matter what we do, every thought, every act, every word, every imagination, every dream, Every motive is also polluted because it all comes forth from a polluted fountain. And if we say we don't have a sinful nature, the scripture says we're just deceiving ourselves. And the truth of God's word isn't in us.

because the Bible teaches us that our problem is a heart problem. The root of the issue of sin is within us, and we cannot be rid of it, and it affects every single thing about us. But some people deal with the sin problem by saying, you know, I'm really not that bad of a person. Yes, you are. And yes, I am. And as we try to paint the picture of our own natural sinfulness and rottenness, like the greatness of Solomon, the half has not been told. You have no idea just how sinful you are, nor me either. And so some actually deny that we have a sin problem.

But on the other hand, and the second thing is some people deal with sin in this way. They confess their sin. God grants them confession. God grants to them repentance. So verse nine says, if we confess our sins, and there's another if, If we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins, not to forgive us our sins because we confess them, not to forgive us our sins because we are sorry and we weep over them, but He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins because He always looks to the bloodied death of the Lord Jesus. It is injustice satisfied that God deals with us on this matter of sin. Christ has settled the issue once and for all. He died unto sin once, and He put sin away by the sacrifice of Himself. He died so to cleanse us, to wash us from our own unrighteousness.

If we acknowledge our sins against God, if we're led by the spirit of truth to confess our rottenness and to come to God through Christ for mercy, if we own up to what we are, that's a blessed thing. Don't try to cover anything up. Don't try to act as if nothing's wrong. You are wrong. We were born wrong. And we sin. We sin multiple times every day, more than we even can imagine. Because even the thought of foolishness is sin. And we read in Romans 14, anything that is not done with faith, faith in Christ the Savior, faith in His sin-atoning blood, anything that is not of faith is sin. Anything we do, anything we say, anything we think that's not for the glory of God is sin. How many times have you sinned today? How many times have I sinned today? I have no idea. I have no idea. But I know this. If God Almighty leads me to be honest about my sin problem, and come to Him as a mercy beggar, acknowledging my guilt, and pleading only the merits of the Son of God. God is faithful. He's faithful to His promise of showing mercy, and He's just, for His law has been satisfied in the death of Christ. He's faithful and just to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

How does God deal with sin? Well, He dealt with the sins of His people by the substitutionary sacrifice of Christ. How do people deal with sin? Well, some people will say, I don't have a sin problem. Well, they're just deceived. Others are enabled by the Spirit of God to confess their sins, to mourn over their sins, to be truly sorry for their sins, and plead the merits of Christ. But others, according to verse 10, their attitude is this. We haven't sinned. I'm living above sin. I've had people tell me that. I'm living above sin. And I have said to some of them, no sin is living above you. You're not sinless. Everybody's a sinner. If we say we have not sinned, then we don't sin anymore. We make God a liar. Because God said, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Who are we gonna believe, you? Or are we gonna believe God? If we say, we don't sin, I don't sin anymore. Ever since I've been saved, I don't sin anymore. You're a liar. And you're calling God a liar. Because He says you have sin and His Word is not in you. That's the third kind of attitude people have about sin.

God help us to deal honestly with this issue of sin. Would you deal honestly with sin? Deal honestly with God? Don't try to cover it up. Don't try to make excuses. Don't say, well, it's extenuating circumstances. It was my environment. It's the home I was brought up in. It's the way my parents dealt with me in severity or in lenience. Don't blame things on everybody else. Take responsibility for your own sinfulness. You are the way you are as a sinner because it, and I'll say it's your fault. And it's my fault. Don't blame it on somebody else.

So after dealing with sin, he goes into the second chapter and John says to us, my little children, these things that I write to you, I write to you that you don't sin anymore. Don't sin anymore. That's what he says.

I don't want to sin anymore, do you? Come on now, be honest. Do you want to sin anymore? I hate my sin, but I can't stop it. I would if I could, but I can't. I can't control the direction my thoughts go in. My motives mainly are impure. Because I'm like everybody else. When you take a group picture, and I get the picture, you know how self-centered I am? I'm looking to see how I appear in that picture. And if I don't look too good, which usually I don't, take that picture over again.

But you see, that's how self-centered we are by nature. It's about me. It's about my. And not about God. That's our problem. We ought to be first and foremost concerned about the glory of God. The purpose of God being fulfilled. The majesty of the Lord Jesus. But more times than not, you and I are thinking about self. You see, self is the biggest idol we face. And though as believers we worship God in truth through the Lord Jesus Christ, we have to come clean with God and say, I'm a self-centered person. And you are too.

Don't sin is what John said. I write these things to you, don't sin. But he says, and if any man sin. I read a sermon by Spurgeon on this and he said that word if, He said, write it in the smallest letters possible. Because he says, it's really not an if, it's a when, when. When any believer sins, seek to forsake it, turn from it, but don't despair.

That's the thing about sin. If we're not careful, sin will drive us to be despairing and to be so sad and convicted in our hearts that we have no more joy. Yes, acknowledge your sin, but sin doesn't have the final word. God has the final word and grace has the final word. Our sins have been forgiven. Don't wallow in conviction. Rejoice in the blood of Christ. That's the attitude we're to have. Hate your sins, yes. But don't despair about them. That's why Christ came. To do something about our sins. Hate them. Despise your own sins.

I look the world over and I hear people tell me it's such an ungodly world. And it is. And we see so much sin everywhere. But the biggest problem I have is in here. My sin. They trouble me till I look to the Savior. And I find in him sweet mercy and forgiveness. I hate my sins. My sins nailed Christ to the cross of Calvary. His soul's sufferings and his death only could put my sins away. That's how horrible they are. He drank the cup of God's wrath dry.

hate your sins, despise your sins, look forward to the day when you won't have them anymore, and that's when you enter into glory. I say, child of God, do not sin. But when you do, and you do, don't be sad as if there's no hope. We have an advocate. We have an advocate with the Father. His name is Jesus Christ the righteous. Advocate. The word means really a comforter. It's somebody who goes with you to speak to a higher authority and that person stands right beside you. That's our savior.

I want us to get real specific here about three persons mentioned in this verse. The father and the criminal and the advocate. The father in this verse It says, if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. The Father stands in the position of judge. Psalm 75 and verse 7 says, God is the judge. Psalm 50 and verse 6 says, the heavens declare His righteousness for God is judge Himself. in his legal capacity as the lawgiver. He is our law adversary. And wherever sin is, the adversary, the one who is just and righteous, who is the judge of all, in his capacity as the law adversary, must strike out against it. because it's contrary to his holiness.

So the first person to consider is the father. The second person to consider is the criminal, the sinner, that is, the lawbreaker, you. Me. You see, sin pollutes the best that we can do. I mentioned I read a message by Spurgeon on this. He said, the highest degree of goodness we can attain has so much pride in it to merit the fullness of the wrath of God. You see, I wish I could do something good. If you did, you'd be so proud of it. That would cause that good thing to be a foul thing. Something gave off a bad odor. But thank God there's a third person here. There's the father, the judge. There's the criminal, the sinner, the lawbreaker, me, you. But the third person is the advocate. An advocate literally is one who pleads the case of another. It doesn't plead their innocence. Because we're not innocent. That's already been established. We're sinners. And the reason we need an advocate, the reason we need a defense attorney, is because the sinner cannot be heard in the court of God. You are not, and I am not fit nor worthy to stand before a holy God, the God who charges the angels with falling, the God in whose sight the heavens aren't even pure. You cannot be, you will not be permitted to stand before the righteous judge and plead your own case. You cannot be and you will not be permitted to speak for yourself.

When you stand before the judge of the universe, and there's a sense in which we stand before him every day, you cannot stand before him on the basis of you confessing your sins. That won't cut it. You see, on one side of God's law, the Father is our law adversary. On the other side is Christ, our Savior. He's the sinner's advocate. And He stands there side by side with us. We don't stand by ourselves.

Every day we appear in the presence of God, and every day we need an advocate. We need somebody to plead our case, to stand beside us. Oh, blessed Savior, stand beside me and be my advocate. Speak for me, appear for me.

Now how does Christ appear as our advocate? How does He plead our case? Just by His very presence. That's all it takes. For as the hymn writer said, five bleeding wounds He bears. received on Calvary, they ever plead for me. That's all that's necessary. He can't plead my innocence, I'm guilty. He can't say of me, well, James Ferguson Byrd is really a fine man. I'm not. Well, how can He plead for me? How can He be my advocate? How can He be on my side? How can He speak up for me? Just by being there.

Because you see, His position of exaltation, that's the reward for His sufferings. You see, he took this office of advocate and great high priest because it was given to him. Hold your place here and turn back to Hebrews chapter 5. Look at Hebrews chapter 5. Hebrews 5, 5 and 6. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest, to be made a mediator, to be made an advocate, but he that said unto him, Thou art my son, today have I begotten thee. And he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest forever, Thou art an advocate forever, Thou art a mediator forever after the order of Melchizedek.

Who made Him the advocate? Who made Him the great high priest of the people that He represented? The same One who chose us chose Him first, and we were chosen in Him. His role as our advocate is a role the Father gave Him.

Now, know this. This advocate, this lawyer, he has the highest regard for the judge, because he's the only begotten Son of God. Nobody knows the Father like the Son does. He knows every demand of the Father. He knows everything the Father requires of the sinner. He knew and knows the price that was demanded. He Himself was the price. He paid the price with His own bloody death. God is well pleased with Him from all eternity. This is one case where the defense attorney has the highest regard for the judge. He loves the father and the father loves him.

And the advocate, knowing the father as he does, knows the just demands. of the father. He knows the penalty for sin is death. And being the advocate for criminals, he presents his wounds to the judge. Wounds which indicate to the judge the debt of all the criminals has been paid in full. For the Savior himself said, it is finished. So our defense attorney, our advocate is well qualified for this position because he has the highest regard for the judge.

And get this, he has a deep, deep love for the criminal. So much so that He took our nature into union with Himself. That's how much He loved us. Right now, as it were, I stand before the Father with my Advocate by my side. And as much as He loves the Father, He loves me that much. That's astounding to me. He loves me with an everlasting love. He's not going to let me perish. But in doing so, in loving me, that doesn't mean that he sets justice aside.

Let me show you a passage over here. I was thinking about it the day before yesterday. Exodus 32. Exodus 32. This is when the people of Israel had sinned, danced around a golden calf. You remember all of that. I don't have time to go into it. God's just ready to wipe them out.

Exodus chapter 32, verse 25. Moses comes down from the mountain. When Moses saw that the people were naked, Exodus 32, 25, for Aaron had made them naked under their shame among their enemies. Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, who is on the Lord's side? Let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves to gather unto him. And he said unto them, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell of the people that day about 3,000 men.

For Moses had said, consecrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son and upon his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day. And it came to pass, verse 30, it came to pass on the Marah, that Moses said unto the people, you have sinned a great sin. And now I will go up unto the Lord as their advocate.

Okay. I will go up unto the Lord as their advocate. Peradventure, I shall make an atonement for your sin. And Moses returned to the Lord and said, This people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written."

Blot me out of the book of the living. Just kill me. Just kill me.

The Lord said, I'm not going to blot you out of my book. Let me tell you something. What Moses did not experience, Christ did experience as our advocate. God did kill him. God did kill him. For us idolatrous people, That's what it cost. The advocate had such a love for us from old eternity, he forfeited his own life to save us. But note this, because I've got to keep going. While the Savior pleads for sinners, He does not minimize the guilt of the criminals. He doesn't downplay our guilt.

Let me show you Psalm 45. Look at Psalm 45 in verse 7. Psalm 45 in verse 7. Here's our advocate. Here's our lawyer. He can't plead our innocence. He can't say, well, you know, basically, they're good-hearted people. They mean well. They just made some mistakes. No, it's not that at all. Look what the Father says concerning the Son in Psalm 45, 7. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness. Therefore thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows, above thy brethren."

Our Lord Jesus knew our condition. He doesn't endeavor at all to hide it or lessen the severity of our guilt. You see, he has the same view as the father regarding sin. It's a despicable thing. It's filthy. He offers no excuse for our guilt and he doesn't lessen the horribleness of our sinfulness. He deals with God on our behalf and on a righteous basis. And note this also. He is so thoroughly acquainted with the condition of his people in whom we stand that He knows there's no excuse for us. There's only the price that He paid. Make no mistake, He knows you inside and out. He doesn't need anybody to inform Him of your condition. As you stand before the Judge of all the earth, right beside your Advocate. Your Advocate knows all about you and loves you, notwithstanding your guilt. And God the Father sees the wounds of His Son and He continually says, I freely, I fully, forgive. He knows we need righteousness and he knows the one who stands beside of us is our righteousness.

Because you see it says over here in our text, I'll give you this and I'll quit. But here's what it says in the text. Read it carefully. Verse two, and he is the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation is the satisfaction of divine justice. It's the mercy seat. But propitiation isn't merely a doctrine. It's a person. Look at it again. He is the propitiation for our sins. He is. He's the satisfaction. Right there He stands. And we may stand trembling beside of Him, or we may come before the throne of grace with boldness. Whatever be our attitude in standing before God perpetually, Christ is our propitiation always. And that never ends. I've always got a good lawyer. Oh, he can't plead anything that I've said or done. He can't say, well, he's been a fine man, been a godly man. But I'll tell you what he does do. Father, behold my wounds that I received in the house of my friends. View me, see me, look on me, behold my bloody sacrifice. And behold this man who is a criminal by nature. but a saint by grace. Oh, thank God for our advocate. Christ Jesus the Savior.

And you know something? He will always stand beside his people. He said, I'll never leave you. Isn't that what he said? I'll never leave you. He said, I'll never forsake you. Not now, not when we die, not ever. We have an advocate, Jesus Christ the righteous. And he's the propitiation, he is, he's the mercy seat. You remember in the tabernacle and then in the temple, there's the Ark of the Covenant back there in the Holy of Holies. And on top of that Ark of the Covenant, well, within the Ark of the Covenant, there's the law of God that we've broken. Break one law, you're guilty of all of them. Isn't that what it says? But on top of the Ark of the Covenant, there's that mercy seat. Aaron, go in there one time a year, but not without blood. First for your own sins. than for the sins of the people you represent. Then you sprinkle blood on the mercy seat. That's the propitiatory. That's where God shows mercy. That law shouts against us. The law says guilty as charged. And my conscience owns my guilt. And I confess my sins. But God is faithful and just, forgive me my sins, because of the blood on the mercy seat, because of the one who was smitten in my stead. And I am perpetually accepted in my lawyer. And I praise his name.

Let's sing a closing song, shall we?